We’ve balanced the books every year and ensured sufficient reserves are in place due to sound financial and efficient management over the years.
However, we have not been immune from the challenges facing local authorities across the country, and for more than a decade we’ve seen our budgets squeezed and demand for services rise.
We're currently facing financial pressures greater than ever experienced before, caused by factors beyond our control.
Inflation levels have risen to a far higher level than expected, along with rising costs of fuel, energy and materials. A continued, significant increase in demand for adults’ and children’s social care and meeting the cost of the national pay award paid at local level, has meant that providing the services local people need within our available resources has become more and more challenging.
Tackling the financial challenges
As an Enterprising Council, we're committed to finding a way through these difficult times by reviewing and changing the way we work and scrutinising every penny to make sure what is being spent is essential and offers value for money.
As well as the introduction of strict cost control measures in 2023 to 2024 we're continuing to lobby the government for additional resources, we're transforming the way we operate, and we're reviewing our land and building assets.
This includes disposing of some buildings we no longer need, securing the best value for them, and developing a plan for the future of County Hall.
As part of our continuing lobbying efforts with councils across the country, we backed a campaign by the County Councils Network for extra social care funding, and in January 2024 we welcomed a government announcement of an extra £500 million to local authorities responsible for providing adults’ and children’s social care.
This resulted in an extra £7.5 million for social care in Derbyshire, confirmed in the Final Local Government Financial Settlement announced in February 2024.
While this means we don't have to call as heavily on our reserves as we had anticipated, we believe, along with other authorities, that this is still not enough, and more needs to be done to support the increasing costs of social care across the board.
We are continuing to lobby government to tackle the spiralling costs of private social care placements for children, which have risen dramatically over the past few years.
Our Council Leader, Councillor Barry Lewis, called for urgent action from the government to provide extra funding to deal with what he called the ‘runaway’ costs of looking after children in care, saying the costs of private placements were jeopardising our ability to balance the books.
And for the government to intervene in the private care provider market and bring the costs under control.
Due to the increased demand for support services, the costs of looking after Derbyshire children who cannot live with their birth parents has risen by £40 million – an increase of 105% - in the past 5 years.
The costs involved mean that we've had to propose reducing preventative and early intervention services, which would stop children and young people coming into care.
We're also continuing to lobby for a multi-year financial settlement which would help us, along with other authorities, to better plan for future years.